AN EAST LONDON man has been sentenced to seven years in jail after being found guilty of two counts of encouraging terrorism and one count of supporting a proscribed organisation.
The guilty man is Mohammed Kamal Hussain, 28, of East London. Both trial and sentencing took place at Kingston Crown Court.
The authorities were alerted to Hussain’s activities last March by a man who lives outside the UK told them he had received an email which encouraged him to join Daesh. The email was investigated by the Counter Terrorism Referral Unit – and offices established that the message came from Hussain.
Police then found posts which Hussain had put on Facebook which glorified Daesh. Police gathered enough evidence to be able to arrest him last June.
Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command, said, “This investigation started with one conscientious individual trusting his instincts and reporting something suspicious. He could have ignored the message Hussain sent him but instead he took a screenshot of the message and contacted the UK authorities immediately. It is in great part thanks to him that police were able to bring Hussain to justice.”
Detectives trawled thousands of messages Hussain had sent on Facebook, Telegram and Whatsapp. Among them were Facebook posts encouraging terrorism, including a speech from the so-called leader of ISIS, Abu bakr al Baghdadi.
Commander Haydon said, “I encourage anyone who sees something online that they have even the slightest feeling could be terrorist, or extremist-related, to follow this example. Please report it to police via the ACT website. We have a team of specially trained officers who will look at everything that is reported and decide if action is required.
“Hussain was actively seeking to recruit Daesh followers. We know from the disturbing material we found on his devices that he supported Daesh. The material included videos of barbaric Daesh violence and warped reasoning for killing people, including children and Muslims.”
•To report material online, simply fill in the confidential form at: www.gov.uk/act.
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